00:00A new fund by Maidstone Borough Council is investing in the community.
00:04The Creative Community Grant offers up to £2,000 per project.
00:09One organisation which has received funding is Harmony,
00:12who provide opportunities for young people to help with a variety of skills,
00:17ranging from drama, music to graffiti workshops.
00:20But receiving this fund has allowed the charity to expand its work.
00:24This year they had a stage at the River Festival.
00:26We had music workshops, beatboxing workshops,
00:29we had some poetry, and then we opened up the stage for our young people to come and jam.
00:34And as part of that event we also had young people backstage.
00:37So our photographer was 15, our videographer was only 18,
00:42we had a 19-year-old sound engineer, a 15-year-old stage manager.
00:45So it was really about bringing the young people in and getting them involved in the activities and in the events.
00:51And then as part of that grant we're also hosting an event on Saturday the 23rd of August in Brennishley Gardens,
00:57which will form part of the Switching Outreach event.
00:59But it's not all about art and culture.
01:03The fund also looks at promoting health and wellbeing.
01:06Fusion Healthy Living Centre is a community hub in Parkwood,
01:10providing accessible healthcare and support for physical and emotional wellbeing.
01:15With services ranging from a coffee shop, social gatherings like Knitter Natter and health checks,
01:19the Fusion staff and their over 100 team of volunteers work to support their community in a range of ways.
01:26Some of the services we offer are to look at public health and address the health inequalities in the area.
01:31So we would offer, for example, we have a diabetic eye screen in here four days a week,
01:36an NHS sexual health comes in, we have a full one-new service offering,
01:41so one you offer programmes around smoking cessation, healthy eating, living well, so things like that.
01:49And then the other programmes and services we offer were four core values that Fusion works with,
01:54so it's public health, food poverty, social inclusion and mental health.
02:00The creative fund is helping support one of their larger annual events, the Fusion Panto.
02:05The sense of community in that room when we're doing the Pantos is just, you can feel it.
02:10Everyone's so happy, they're so thankful that we've bought this activity to them.
02:16In our feedback they've told us that normally they wouldn't be able to go to these shows
02:20because they're too expensive, they don't have access to transport,
02:23and so bringing the pantomime to Parkwood has just had an overwhelmingly positive reaction.
02:31Providing organisations with funding to support their work
02:34helps communities in more ways than one.
02:36Daisy Page for KMTV
